On Oct.17, U.S.-based technology company, Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) and the U.S. Department of Commerce have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms for Infinera to receive up to $93 million in direct funding as part of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. This proposed direct funding, when combined with investment tax credits available under the CHIPS and Science Act, could result in more than $200 million in total federal incentives as well as potential state and local incentives.

Each of these facilities will address the company’s production needs to accommodate current and future technological developments:

San Jose, California: Infinera will build a new, modernized fab and foundry with over 40,000 square feet of cleanroom space to increase its InP PIC manufacturing to meet future capacity and capability demands.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: It will construct a new advanced test and packaging facility to meet the increasing demand for InP PICs. As one of the only advanced test and packaging facilities dedicated to packaging InP PICs in the United States, this project would also help bolster the domestic and global packaging supply chains while keeping a domestic packaging base for Infinera’s defense and intelligence customers and the commercial and AI sectors. Additionally, this facility would include dedicated R&D space focused on newer optical packaging technologies, such as 2.5D and 3D packaging and co-packaged optics. 

“We are grateful for the bipartisan efforts under the CHIPS and Science Act to increase semiconductor fabrication and packaging in the U.S. and protect our national and economic security,” said David Heard, Infinera CEO. “The proposed CHIPS funding will enable us to better secure our supply chain and compete more effectively with foreign adversary nations. Our unique photonic semiconductors address the increased demand for bandwidth from consumers while opening new markets inside the data center driven by the explosive growth in AI workloads.”

Infinera’s award of the proposed CHIPS funding would not have been possible without bipartisan support and partnerships with local, state and federal officials. This support is instrumental to the long-term success of these projects and the growth of advanced manufacturing in the U.S.